Welcome to another installment of Romance Writers Weekly! Each week, we give you – the dear reader – insights into what makes us tick.
This week’s question comes from Brenda Margriet, author of the delightful Chef d’Amour. She asks “How do you choose the setting for your book? Does where you live inspire you? this can apply even to books set in paranormal worlds – what do you use from real life?” Did you land here after visiting Dani Jace? Her upcoming novel Hot as Blazes is set in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Is it a place that’s close to her heart?
Story ideas come to me in a myriad of ways. Sometimes I’m inspired by a news article. Other times, I’ll meet an interesting person and the what-ifs start whirling through my brain. And then there are the times when I’m on the road (I travel a lot) in some exotic place and I find myself wondering about the lives of the locals. As let loose my books upon the world, you’ll find them set in anywhere from Lisbon to Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
My first novella, The Calum, was inspired by my love for all things Outlander. Set in the picturesque Scottish Highlands, my heroine falls in love with the landscape even before she falls for my hero. Quite often a setting can become another character in a story. It’s one of the things I love so much about writers like Diana Gabaldon and Anne Rice. Authors like Rhenna Morgan and Hugh Howey, who build their own worlds, set me – the reader – down in the middle of it. Immersion.
Hop on over to see what inspires Ronnie Allen to set her novels in the area where she lives.
See you next week!
Xio
Somehow all the places one has been bleed into your writing. You may be describing a bar from London and putting it down in LA. It’s our freedom as writers
Absolutely! I used a club in Vegas as a stand-in for a story set in Philly. =)
There’s nothing like travel to inspire. And like Sarah said, it’s liberating to take what we’ve experienced in one place and bring it to life in a new location. I also totally agree about setting sometimes being a character itself. I feel that way often when I’m writing.
It definitely comes through in your writing, Vicki. I feel like I’ve visited your backyard. =)
Very true that the setting can become a character in itself. Your settings sound amazing.
Thanks Beth! I hope that I do them justice. =)
I totally agree with you. The setting is almost like another character that needs to be fully fleshed out and can influence the plot and characters.
Absolutely! Our environment shapes us. It should be the same for our characters, right? =)